After This 12-Year-Old Shaved His Head For Charity, A Scan Came Back With Devastating Results

When Benicio Martinez heard about his school’s fundraiser for a childhood cancer charity, he knew that he wanted to help. So he volunteered to shave his head and raised more than $1,000 in the process. But in a cruel twist of fate, just weeks later, the results of a scan revealed some devastating news.

Benicio, whom friends and family know as Benny, is based in Park Ridge, Illinois. There, he lives with his mom Michelle, dad Ed and brother Christian. And according to his family, Benny is always putting other people before himself.

“He’s the kind of kid who is always worried about others and how things are affecting them. He has a big heart,” his mom, Michelle, told PEOPLE in March 2017. So it perhaps wasn’t a big surprise to her when Benny revealed he was taking part in a fundraiser at his school.